Sticks & Stones
by Astrid Elphaba Lovegood
Summary: Now that Hiccup can speak Dragonese, Toothless has something very important to tell him.


**Disclaimer: If I owned HTTYD, life would be so great.**

**Author's Note: I just got the idea for this. I really don't know what I'm doing. Just a tad absurd and VERY fantastical. For the record, I **_**am**_** Team Magical Stuff. Told from Toothless' POV. **_**BOLD PASSAGES ARE DRAGONESE!**_

I had been waiting for this. I could understand him before. But now he would be able to understand me. Maybe I could tell him… possibly everything.

**"Toothless, I'm so glad," **Hiccup said to me, carefully studying his Dragonese dictionary, **"Everything will be so much easier now that I know Dragonese."**

I begged to differ. Things would be more complicated. Much more complicated with Astrid around frequently. At least she was too overwhelmed with the language of Dragonese to pursue it as Hiccup had.

**"I suppose," **I said.

**"Are you kidding?"**

** "Probably."**

He gave me one of his Hiccup looks. Ohhhh how I hated those looks. It made the pain so much worse to bear. His eyes were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.

**"Toothless, what is it?"** He sounded concerned.

**"Don't worry about it, Hiccup. It will just be…different than it has been in the past, that's all."**

Even though I had been waiting for this for a long time, I didn't expect him to catch on so quickly. He was much cleverer than the others.

**"But don't you like it? If you don't like it, I'll stop. Everyone else thinks it's odd. Luckily my dad doesn't know yet." **Hiccup asked anxiously.

** "No, I don't mind. It's just-" **I would have to get to the truth at some point. **"-this is the first time you've talked to me all alone."**

** "Well, yeah. Is that okay?" **Hiccup asked uneasily.

**"I've been wanting to tell you that it's perfectly fine. I'd prefer it actually."**

** "Okay…"**

There was a silence in the glade. Before Hiccup had figured out how to speak some Dragonese, this was not unusual. But now he knew that I was holding back. I could see it in his eyes… They were greener than any others I had ever seen. He stared at me with them, almost more than I would have liked him to, if that was possible.

**"You're hiding something from me Toothless."** Hiccup said stubbornly.

I shook my head. **"No I'm not."**

** "Yes you are." **The Viking protested stubbornly. **"I've known you for ten years. Don't try to fool me with that old 'nothing's wrong' trick! It doesn't work on me. Stop lying to me! I've never lied to you, have I?"**

I racked my brain. I could find a thing. He had always been so honest with me… In the silence, I debated whether or not to tell him. I wasn't afraid to tell him. I was just afraid of how he would react. There are so many ways he could take this… But I had to start somewhere.

**"No. You **_**haven't **_**ever lied to me."**

**"That's because I love you, Toothless."** He rose from the ground and wrapped his arms around my neck. **"You're the best dragon I could have ever asked for."**

My eyes started to get teary. _Oh no,_ I willed them, _Please, please, PLEASE don't cry! Not NOW!_ If only I could hug back…

**"I love you too, Hiccup."**

Eventually, against my will, I let go. Hiccup sat back down on the ground and smiled at me. He said, **"You're a funny dragon, Toothless."**

_You don't know the _half _of it._ I thought.

Then, I found the words **"Hiccup, do you like Astrid?" **coming out of my mouth. I wished I hadn't said them because I knew what he was about to say just by the look in his eyes. It almost seemed as if I had asked that question just to see what his eyes would do.

**"I think you know the answer to that, Toothless. Astrid and I have been together for years. I like her very much. We've been through many things together. We have four children. Toothless, I don't think you understand how much I love her and because of that I pity you."**

I couldn't believe my ears. He _pitied_ me? He really did have no idea how much what he said about Astrid hurt me. I shouldn't have asked in the first place… What a dumb question.

**"Pity me? Why?"**

** "I've never seen another Night Fury before. No one has. And you've always been alone. I can't dream of what that was like." **Hiccup said, trying to be tactful.

**"Yes you can."** I disagreed, **"You were as alone as I was when you found me. And it's alright."**

** "I don't understand how that can ever be alright. You **_**are **_**a funny dragon, Toothless."**

Well, he was at least getting _one_ thing right… It wasn't alright. It worked for then. But now that I had my chance to tell him, things could be different.

**"It was alright until you started speaking Dragonese."**

** "Look, if you don't want me to, I'll stop. **Alright?" Hiccup finished his sentence in Norse.

**"No. I prefer you speaking to me in Dragonese. Hiccup, I **_**am**_** hiding something from you." **I confessed.

**"Do you want to discuss it?"**

I took a deep breath, looked into his handsome eyes, and said, **"I'm not who you think I am."**

**"What are you talking about?"** Hiccup asked.

**"I'm not who you think I am." **I repeated, wishing that it was as simple as that.

Hiccup was clearly baffled.** "What do you mean? Stop making fun of me, Toothless."**

** "Do you honestly think I would make fun of someone who has never lied to me? This is serious." **I said sternly,** "I'm not who you think I am. My name isn't Toothless; it's Keighlya, and I'm not a Night Fury, Hiccup. I'm **_**human**_** and I'm cursed."**

I had been around Hiccup for ten years so I learned to expect the unexpected. But my heart was racing so fast that I hadn't time to prepare myself for what he was about to say.

**"Toothless-Keighlya-" **he blustered. It took him about a full minute to get out, **"You're a **_**girl**_**!"**

If I could, I would have blushed. **"Well…yes. I suppose I am."**

** "Why didn't you ever tell me?"**

** "You mean before you knew Dragonese?"**

** "No, I mean, why didn't you tell me the other day when it was just you and me and Astrid?" **Hiccup asked. Within a few seconds, Hiccup knew the answer to what he had just asked. He slowly backed away from me. **"Oh, Thor…"**

Of course I didn't need to tell someone as clever as Hiccup why. He was intelligent enough to figure out why I had been so loyal to him all those years on his own. Which was why I stayed.

**"Listen, Hiccup, I know this is…different but wouldn't you rather know the truth?" **I reasoned.

**"Pinch me, Tooth-Keighlya," **he corrected himself, **"this can't be happening! It's not possible! You can't be a… a cursed human! You're- you're my **_**dragon**_**!"**

** "But it **_**is **_**happening, Hiccup."** I said solemnly.

**"I don't believe in curses."** Hiccup contradicted, **"This can't possibly be true."**

** "I'm sorry to break it to you, Hiccup, but it is. I know this is crazy but you have to believe me! If anyone will believe me, you will."**

Hiccup sighed. **"No one else knows Dragonese anyway, and I bet you've been dying to tell me."**

** "You have no idea. When I was still a human and lived on an island far away from Berk, I had ideas like yours." **I explained.

**"Like mine?"** the chief asked.

**"Yes. I invented things. I wasn't particularly strong or useful and I felt as if I could never do anything right. My parents couldn't wait to get me married off."** Hiccup smiled at me. **"We had raids too. And I wanted them to stop. And I wanted to be the one to do it. I wanted to make peace with the dragons. I shared my ideas. Not a good idea."**

** "What happened?" **said Hiccup with interest.

**"The tribe elder put a curse on me and transformed me into a Night Fury. Since my parents wanted me to get a husband so badly, the elder said that the curse could only be broken when I loved a man, and he loved me back…and together, we could do what I'd always wanted."** I said.

Hiccup knew how I felt about him. He knew how jealous I was of Astrid. He knew that I loved him more than anyone ever could. I could see it in his eyes… Hiccup's eyes filled with tears.

**"Oh, Toothless," **he whispered, tears streaming down his face, **"**_**Oh, TOOTHLESS!**_**"** He ran to me and threw his arms around my neck. I wrapped my wings around him, hugging him as tightly as a dragon could. He simply stood there for a while, his arms around my neck, sobbing.

This was not what I had expected at all. For so long I had dreamed of when I would tell him who I truly was. I wasn't too keen on all those tears. I knew that the curse could never be broken: he loved Astrid. There was nothing I could do. And I would be stuck like this forever.

After a while, he pulled his face out of my wings and said, **"You are very brave. You are not afraid to think. We are very similar… which is why I can't bear this."**

** "What do you mean?" **I asked him.

**"We're too much alike. What should I tell Astrid?"**

It was then that I lost it. Hiccup loved her. He loved me as well. He had said so! But it wasn't the right kind of love. I cried fat wet dragon tears all over the man I loved so much. **"Oh, Hiccup! Don't tell her a thing! I wouldn't be able to- she would not be pleased! You see the way she gets when Ruffnut eyes you! Even if she only knew that I was a girl, she would go berserk! You can't let her know!"**

** "Keighlya," **Hiccup sobbed.

**"I like your own name for me better."**

** "Toothless," **he corrected himself, **"You are the only friend I've ever had."**

Before I became physically attracted to him, like when we were testing out his inventions in order to help my tail, this would have been an honor. But now it met that Astrid was much much more than a friend. And I was just a friend.  
Hiccup continued, **"And I never want to lose what we have here and now. If we were together, it would destroy our beautiful friendship. I would never be able to live with myself."**

I continued to cry my dragon tears. Hiccup's breaths were more steady and even now.

**"Keighlya-Toothless, let's go home."**

And I followed the boy back to Astrid…

**Author's Note: PHEW! DONE! That took much longer than I expected it to. Review?**


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